Walk Worthy of The Calling

Ephesians Part IX

Paul’s letter to the church in Ephesus

Can be split into two parts

1st three Chapters - Who is God, and Who we are in Him

expound on God’s eternal plan for us

His awesome power, wisdom and love

Our position in Him

Access, adoption, acknowledged, affirmed, empowered

last 3 chapters - What it means in our lives

How to live in the light of this awesome knowledge

practical application

affecting every part of our lives, and relationships

Growing up, fulfilling our purpose

This week, we begin The second part - Chapter 4

Title - Walk Worthy of The Calling

“Walk” how we conduct ourselves in life

not just tin church

not just with our Christian friends

Not just when people are watching

Ephesians 4:1–10 NKJV

1 I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called, 2 with all lowliness and gentleness, with longsuffering, bearing with one another in love, 3 endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. 4 There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called in one hope of your calling; 5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism; 6 one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all. 7 But to each one of us grace was given according to the measure of Christ’s gift. 8 Therefore He says: “When He ascended on high, He led captivity captive, And gave gifts to men.” 9 (Now this, “He ascended”—what does it mean but that He also first descended into the lower parts of the earth? 10 He who descended is also the One who ascended far above all the heavens, that He might fill all things.)

“I Therefore...”

Paul begins this section of his letter with a “Therefore”

connecting what he is about to write with what he has just written.

Therefore walk worthy of this calling …

Because of what you have just learned walk worthy of this calling

becasue of all these awesome truths we have been talking about for the last 8 weeks, walk worthy

I beseech you therefore.....

Because of this, I am pleading with you to live a life worthy of this calling....

Put it into practice

walk the talk

Don’t just be a spectator

“Therefore” let’s recap a little

These first three chapters of said so much about Who God is, and about who we are becasue of Him

We mentioned in another message over 40 statements about who we are in Christ, just from the 1st three chapters

By faith We are:

faithful in Christ Jesus:

blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ,

chosen in Him before the foundation of the world,

Holy

without blame before Him in love

adopted as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself,

accepted in the Beloved.

redeemed through His blood,

forgiven of sins,

The recipient of the riches of His grace abounding toward us in all wisdom and prudence

predestined according to the purpose of Him

sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise

Received from Him the spirit of wisdom and

The Spirit of revelation in the knowledge of Him,

eyes of my understanding being enlightened;

I am loved, even when we were dead in trespasses,

I am made alive together with Christ

I am saved by His Grace (by grace you have been saved),

I am raised up together, and (with saints and Him)

I am made to sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,

I have been saved by grace, through faith,

His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works,

brought near by the blood of Christ.

have access by one Spirit to the Father. (through Him)

no longer strangers and foreigners,

fellow citizens with the saints and

members of the household of God,

built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone,

being built together for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit.

fellow heirs, of the same body, and partakers of His promise in Christ through the gospel

in whom I have boldness and

access with confidence through faith in Him

strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man,

Christ dwells in my heart through faith

rooted and grounded in love,

able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height

able to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge;

filled with all the fullness of God.

Also, there are more than 40 statements about who God is in these three chapters.

We should have these in mind, when we consider Paul’s pleading that we walk worthy...

God is:

God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ,

He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world,

predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself

In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins,

He made grace to abound toward us in all wisdom and prudence,

He made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure which He purposed in Himself,

He gathers together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth—in Him.

In Him also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestined

He who works all things according to the counsel of His will,

He (the holy Spirit) is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption.

He is the Father of glory,

The exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe,

the working of His mighty power which He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead

He is far above all principality and power and might and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in that which is to come.

all things are under His feet,

He is (Christ) head over all things

God, who is rich in mercy,

His great love with which He loved us,

He has made us alive together with Christ

raised us up together, and

made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,

He shows the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.

we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works

We who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.

Christ is Our Peace

For He Himself is our peace,

He reconciles us to God in one body through the cross, thereby putting to death the enmity.

through Him we have access by one Spirit to the Father.

Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone, 21

in whom the whole building, being fitted together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord,

The effective working of His power.

the unsearchable riches of Christ,

manifold wisdom of God - made known by the church to the principalities and powers in the heavenly places,

His eternal purpose which He accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord,

He grants us, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man, 17

Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love,

the love of Christ which passes knowledge;

that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.

He does exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think

The Calling With Which You Were Called

Therefore, since you can see how awesome and wonderful God is, His great love for you...

Since you can have confidence in who you are becasue of Him, your incredible value

Chosen by Him, Adopted By Him, Accepted By Him, Acknowledged by Him, Empowered By Him

We have been “called” By Him

He has not only chosen you, He has called you...

you have been uniquely prepared and eqipped

all your life, God has been preparing you, equipping you, developing you, for this calling

you have a purpose that is completely unique to you.

A divine purpose, from the foundation of the world

We can, and should, live lives worthy of this....

not just show up, but represent this wonderful savoir, in a way that honors Him....

With All Lowliness, Gentleness and Long-suffering

His first instruction in this practical section leads with the word “Lowliness”

This was so radically different from what the norm of the time would have been

In a world of dominance by force, striving to be ahead, selfishness and violence

It is also a radical idea today

It seems contrary to our natural inclination

Who wants to be “lowly”?

Who wants to be the least?

Yet Paul lists these characteristics as attributes

Lowliness, humility. Considering others better than yourselves

most of us would do well to just consider others as well as ourselves

So many Christians in today’s culture have completely lost sight of this

Whenever there is conflict, even among brethren, they want to quote “I’m the head and not the tail...”

They miss the “therefore”

When I have a proper understanding of who God is, and Who I am in Him, I can afford to be humble

I don’t have to worry about lifting myself up above you - I am accepted in the beloved.

You can’t get any higher than “seated together with Christ in the heavenlies”

Understanding this, I can be patient with others

When someone insults me, instead of needing to get even, I can actually feel compassion for them

So often it is evidence that they have not received Christ, or don’t understand who they are in HIm

You can afford to have compassion, even on your enemies,, becasue all things work together for your good

We can be “gentle”

Christians must be gentle. This is part of the “fruit of the spirit”

It is so unfortunate that so many of today’s Christians have forgotten this

especially when it suits their political views, or traditions.

Even when we are confronted with people who do not share our beliefs, we must be humble, and gentle

How do you treat people that don’t believe what you do?

What about Muslims, or homosexuals?

What about foreigners, people struggling with addictions, or other sins?

What about the lost, or people of other cultures?

I can be bother humble and gentle without compromising my own beliefs (and so can you)

And longsuffering - patience

People may come around to Christ - be patient -

we need to remember that most of us didn’t get saved on our first sermon

If God was so Patient with us, who should be patient with those who trouble us (Therefore)

Bearing With One Another In Love

It is a tragedy that Christians don’t want to “bear with each other” very much these days

In fact, it seems that the unbelievers almost do this better than the Christians (seems)

When words like “inclusive” and “tolerance” can almost be seen as anti-Christian Words any more

Don’t misunderstand, we must be steadfast in sound doctrine.

The scriptures should not be watered down, or diluted to suit the desires of sinful people.

But we can do it with humility, gentleness, patience.

And we can put up with each other as we grow in our faith

Christians should always be willing to “bear with one another”

Just because someone doesn’t look like you or sound like you

People can be too quick to change churches, break friendships, end marriages

People don’t want to “bear with” anything they don’t like

But that isn’t love, and it isn’t worthy of our calling

not worthy of this amazing savoir we read about in the first section

not worthy of the amazing disciples that we see ourselves as in that section

Keep The Unity of The Spirit

We must maintain unity if we are going to be effective

We are uniquely called

But We are divinely unified

Unique individuals in One Body - The Church

Every one of us is different, created by God

The Church is One Body

We can celebrate our differences instead of being divided by them

Even the different denominations, styles of worship and preaching...

There are Baptists, Pentecostals, Methodists, etc.

But we are all of one church.

Consider a football team - different players positions, but one team, one goal

the QB can’t be the linebacker

When one wins they all win

How do we live in Unity?

By faith, by the Spirit

The Holy Spirit is not divided

Jesus is not divided

So many Christian disputes would not be possible if people simply maintained unity with the Spirit, instead of demanding their way and then trying to get the Spirit to unify with them

Not only in the church, but at home, in marriages, friendships, at work, anywhere two believers are

If we just put ourselves in the position of saying “What is the Lord saying?”

We can only do that if we are humble and gentle

Even in disputes, what if we stopped and checked with Him? We can’t both be right. What would Jesus say?

We also can’t see that unless we can truly consider the other person’s positon

I always think Jesus is on my side, if I only consider my side.

But that kind of thinking leads us to err, and we only fool ourselves.

Why does it matter?

For the unity of the Spirit

Not just ourselves, but the Body of Christ.

One Body, One Spirit, One Lord, One Faith, One Baptism, One God and Father of All

This is why Friends.... There is only one God

There isn’t a God for the Baptists and another God for the Lutherans.

I was baptised into the same baptism as the Episcopalians

Imagine a fight between our hands --- who would win?

Who would lose?

That is the position we put Jesus in so often in our disunity.

But we can live in unity and harmony and power and love

And that is what Paul instructs us to do here

Because this One God and Father of All is also

Above all, and Through all and In You All!